BIOCOMPLEXITY: Collaborative Research: Microbial and Nutrient Controls in Mangrove Ecosystems

这个项目得到了生物科学局、地球科学局和数学与物理科学局多学科活动办公室的支持，它将资助有关红树林林的研究，红树林在世界热带和亚热带海岸占主导地位，与珊瑚礁的地理分布平行。这里的生态过程受到来自陆地、海洋和天空的输入的影响，导致洪水、盐度、温度、光照和养分供应的极端波动。与红树林有关的生物具有特殊的生理和结构适应能力，使它们能够在这种多变的环境中生存。人为的富集是对这些沿海生态系统的主要全球威胁之一。实验表明，养分在红树林之间甚至在红树林内部的分布并不均匀。土壤肥力可以跨越狭窄的梯度从氮限制转变为磷限制。本研究将探讨伯利兹近海红树林岛屿的物理和化学因子、营养物质、微生物、树木和元素循环之间的关系，研究环境和生物之间的相互作用，以确定来自自然、农业或城市来源的营养物质输入的变化如何改变这些生态系统组成部分之间的微妙平衡。数学模型将帮助我们预测复杂性对红树林生态系统在自然和人为干扰下生存能力的贡献。研究结果将有助于科学家了解如何更好地管理和保护红树林生态系统，并将有助于我们了解其他生态系统中的生物复杂性。

ABSTRACT This project, which is being supported by the Directorate for Biological Sciences, the Directorate for Geosciences, and the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities in the Directorate for Mathematical anfd Physical Sciences, will fund research on mangrove forests that dominate the world's tropical and subtropical coasts, paralleling the geographical distribution of coral reefs. Ecological processes here are influenced by inputs from the land, sea, and sky, which result in extreme fluctuations of flooding, salinity, temperature, light, and nutrient availability. Mangrove-associated organisms have specialized physiological and structural adaptations that sustain them in this variable environment. Human-caused enrichment is one of the major global threats to these coastal ecosystems. Experiments show that nutrients are not uniformly distributed among or even within mangrove forests. Soil fertility can switch from nitrogen to phosphorus limitation across narrow gradients. This study will explore the relationships among physical and chemical factors, nutrients, microbes, trees, and elemental cycling on off-shore mangrove islands in Belize.We will examine the interactions between the environment and organisms to determine how changes in nutrient inputs from natural, agricultural, or urban sources might alter the delicate balance among these ecosystem components. Mathematical models will help us predict the contribution complexity makes to the ability of mangrove ecosystems to survive both natural and anthropogenic disturbances. The results of the study will help scientists understand how to better manage and conserve mangrove ecosystems and will contribute to our understanding of biocomplexity in other ecosystems.